Christian berger



Jan. 24, 1928. g 1,657,103

c. BERGER CURRENT FLOW INDICATOR Fil'ed Dec. 25. 1921 13"' izo- Hmm 10 Patented Jan. 24, 1928.

CHRISTIAN` BERGER, kORNRW YORK," N. Y. i

- CURRENT-FLOW INDICATOR, .f

Application i1edA`Decexnber23,r1921; .SeriaLINd $524,374.` l

,l This invention relates to the application of sor-called thermoscopic substances for indieating visually by readable characters temperature conditions andconditionswhich 'are a function of temperature, such as flow of current in an electric circuit. n,

At the present time a demand has arisen 'for a simple form ot current indicator which Will be readily applicable to various forms of electric'appliances and moreparticularly household appliances, automobile appliances and accessories and the like.v lith devices of this sort it is frequently desirable ,tolrnoiv Whether or not current is {iovving there, through, and it is not necessary or essential to know the quantity of current iiovving. y, On

account of the relatively low costof the ap'- pliances themselves the use of ammeters for this purpose is impracticable, and therefore simpler forms of magneticf'pidicators have been devised.

While some of these indicatorsk have partiallyv'met the demand, their costhas been excessive and their construction in' a Way complicated in that they have not come into general use. .l f p In vthe present' invention, magnetic type devices and moving parts 'areentirely eliminated and in place thereof I utilize'a thermoscopic material which is adapted to ychange in color under varyingydegrees of` `heat and thereby visually indicate the ab- `sence or presence of heat. Bysuitably assoeiutingthe carrier of the thermoscopic material or the material itseli1 with a heating elenient disposed in any electriccurrent I may directly indicate the How or nonfloiv et current in said circuit.

Provision. is also made playing on or oli condition'of the current or or elevated temperature condition, The

for directly disi Words may be so arranged as to merely indicate that current is iiowing'with noy indication being displayedr with current olif,

or the indication can be arranged to indicate both on and off conditions of current yi'low.

While the present indication in its more limited aspects is directed to current indicators, the principles and parts employed may be employed for other useswvhich Will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

suitablek Words which indicatethe normal Fig. 1; is a diagrammatic view of'one em#` bodiment. Y K

Fig. 2 is a view of a modified form of the invention.v i l Figs. 3 and Il" are plan and sectionalviews of a different indicating and heating element in which the latter conforms to the coniiguration of the former. n Fig- 5 showsy another embodiment of my invention. n e f ,y

Fig. 6 shows the indicating elements .of Fig.. 5 under fa' different conditioner current flow. i Fig'. 7 is a sectional view of another form of heating element and indicator,V c

Fig. `8 is a disassembled view of the parts `shown in Fig. 7.. i

Substancesk have lrecently been developed `which have the propertyy af changing in color under the influence ofheat. Among these maybe mentioned copper :mercury iodidewhich is adapted yat temperatures between 13004400 to change in color from y' cinnabar to chocolate brovvn. Silver Inercury liodide changes color at lower temperature from yellow to orange. Thecolor contrasts with this material may be increased by adding a blue dye orlcolor to the materialy green and change under heat to deep red;

y One method of carrying out my invention `which. 4Will cause the color to'be normally f is shown in Fig. 1'. `1 'In this figure` 10 representsv an electric circuit with a suitable source of current 11 and a manually operlable switch 12. 13 'represents la heating clement which 'forms a part' of vthe circuit 110. The conductor may be properly proportioned to'heatup at a desired point'.-

Disposed adjacent the portion of the conductor-Which becomes heated is va panel 15 of any desired material, carrying thereon afquantity of a thermoscopic substance at' 16.1 The methods of applying the material may bev Widely varied A sheet of paper or. other material. can be yemployed-'for the panel andthe .ther- .HIOSCOpiC substance applied by painting@` stenciling or in other Ways as by a thin slip of paper impregnated with the thermoscopic substance. The .operation Will be f readily understood. Underheat due to the How of current the material Will change color and indicate the flow of current. f

Fig. 2`shovvs a different lembodimentin `which the heating element 13L itselfv forms the panel which carries thermoscopic material 16a. In this embodiment I have shown the thermoscopie material arranged in the form of the letters ON. To change the display when current is oft" I provide a background 17 around the letters which is of sub stantially the same color as that of the cold color of the thermoscopic material forming the letters. Under relatively cold conditions with current- 01T in the circuit, the let-tersn will merge with the background and be invisible. On the other hand, when current flows and the material heats up the color of the letters will contrast with the background and ther-tore be rendered visible. The particular met-hod of forming the background may be widely varied. Paint of proper color may be applied directly to the panel or a colored screen may be used. Similarly the thern'ioscopic material may be applied in any desired manner. The principles explained in connection withthis ligure may also be used in the embodiment shown in Fig. l.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate an embodiment in which the heating element 131 is arranged to conform to the configuration of the letters. Here I have shown the letters UFF. In this case the thermoscopic letters 16" are of contrasting color with respect to the background 17 when the parts are cold and no current is iiowing. Thus I obtain a direct indication of the ott condition and the user will know that current flow is taking place. when the letters are invisible.

In 5 and `G I have shown a combination of the on and off letters. The indi lator is here shown mounted upon a cut-out switch 1S 4of conventional form. It will be understood that the indicator may be mounted upon a piece of apparatus itself or upon an attachment plug or in any desired position. Preferably the indicator when mounted upon a part such as 18 is so disposed that air may freely circulate around it so that it will cool rapidly upon the interi-tuition of current flow.

In Fig. 5 the words )N as shown at 1G* are shown in contrasting relation with the background 17. The letters OFF'marked 16" are in non-contrasting relation with background portion 17h. vhen current is turned off the display will be as shown in Fig. 6. with the words lGlcontrasting with a background 17b and thereby visible and the word ON marked '16*I in non-contrasting re lation and therefore invisible. On the other hand, as current is on the indication will be given as shown in Fi 5.

It will be understoodtat similar indications may be secured by making the background portions of thermoscopic material and the letters of properly colored non-therymoscopic material.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 7 and 8, I provide'a structure which will prevent the overheating of the thermascopic substance whenthe current is in on condition.V Such substances, as is well known, are not stable under excessive continued heat. and I therefore provide heating element 13 and cover the .same with a suitable metal plate 19, preferably enamel to insulate the same. This plate is preferably of aluminum and acts as a radiator to dissi )ate the heat from the comentrated point of lient adjacent the heating element 13. Superimposed over this plate is a carrier f2() for the thermoscopic substance 21 and superimposed and protecting this part a suitable sheet of transparent mica 22. The member 2() may be conviently formed of tinted mica to provide the background for the thermoscopic substance which is indicated diagrammatically at 2l. This thermoscopic substance may be of any of the forms of letters shown in the other embodiments '.1 the invention. The parts shown in Figure 8 are all assembled together by means of screws Q73 which are received in suitable terminal blocks 24. It will be understood that the background portion may be tinted in the material forming the covered mica 22, if desired. "ith this embodiment excessive heating of the thermoscopic substance indicated at 21 is avoided.

lVhat I claim is:

A current flow indicator coniprising different-ly disposed masses of thermosropic materials, and means for heating the same by the flow of current, one of said materials heilig adapted to give a visual indication of one liow condition and the other material being concurrently invisible. said respective masses of thernioscopic materials upon a different condition of current flow being adapted to respectively become invisible and visible and thereby directly lindicate another current flow condition.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature.

CHRISTIAN BERGER. 

